Top Missouri Personal Injury Settlements
The largest personal injury settlements in Missouri for one client or family, ranked by amount. Each links to the full story, the firm, and the record behind the number.
Browse personal injury lawyers in Missouri →- $50 millionSettlementWrongful Death
$50 Million Settlement After Durable Medical Equipment Supplier Ignored Pleas to Replace Dying Man's Breathing Device
Simon Law secured a $50 million wrongful death settlement after a young man with intellectual disabilities died when a national durable medical equipment supplier repeatedly ignored his mother's calls for a replacement breathing device.
- $27 millionSettlementPremises Liability
Mother of Kansas City Shooting Victim Recovers $27 Million From Commercial Property Owner
A woman sued a commercial property owner for wrongful death after her child was shot and killed on the property in Kansas City, alleging the landowner had failed to provide adequate security measures and precautions. The case was handled under a confidentiality agreement that keeps the parties' identities and the property's location out of the public record. It was resolved in Jackson County Circuit Court on May 31, 2024, under the caption Confidential v. Confidential, for $27,000,000. Missouri Lawyers Media, which reported the settlement and reached plaintiff's counsel for comment, later listed it as the top settlement in its Top Verdicts and Settlements roundup for 2024.
After trial: Case name, decedent and defendant withheld under a confidentiality agreement.
Ketchmark & McCreight, P.C.2024 · Jackson County Circuit Court, Missouri (case caption confidential)Read the full story → - $10.5 millionSettlementWrongful Death
$10.5 Million Settlement After Commercial Driver Kills Two Teens in Head-On Collision
A commercial truck driver crossed the center line on a Buchanan County road in July 2022, killing two teenagers and seriously injuring a third young passenger; five plaintiff families reached a $10.5 million global settlement in January 2024.
- $10.5 millionSettlementMedical Malpractice
$10.5 Million FTCA Settlement for Veteran Who Lost Kidney Function After VA Prescribed Harmful Drug for Three Years
A combat veteran developed end-stage renal disease after VA physicians at Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital prescribed Naproxen for three consecutive years, ignoring repeated warnings in his own medical records that NSAIDs would damage his kidneys; the case settled for $10.5 million, the largest FTCA settlement in Missouri history.
- $10 millionSettlementWrongful Death
Courthouse Employee's Asbestos Death Settles for $10 Million
Nancy Lopez worked at the Jackson County Courthouse in Kansas City for 27 years, where she was an administrative assistant to a judge, before she died of mesothelioma in October 2010 at 56. She had sued U.S. Engineering Co. and Jackson County, alleging the contractor mishandled asbestos wrapped pipes and air handling units during a 1983 and 1984 courthouse renovation and let asbestos dust spread through the building. Her family settled the wrongful death claim on November 18, 2011 for $10 million, with Jackson County's share reported at $400,000, after the case had been set for a lengthy jury trial. Her attorney, Lou Accurso, said it was the largest asbestos settlement in Missouri history at the time. The settlement did not cover a separate class action later brought by other courthouse employees.
After trial: A state-record Missouri asbestos settlement at the time; U.S. Engineering Co. paid the bulk and Jackson County paid $400,000.
The Accurso Law Firm, P.C.2011 · Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, heard by Buchanan County Circuit Judge Patrick Robb on Missouri Supreme Court appointment (settled before a scheduled jury trial)Read the full story → - $5.97 millionSettlementTruck Accidents
$5.97 Million Settlement for Family After Fatal Head-On Crash With Ice Cream Truck in Osage County
Brown & Crouppen helped Zachary Patchin's family reach a $5.97 million settlement after an Ice Cream Factory box truck crossed into oncoming traffic in a no-passing zone and killed both drivers on U.S. 50 in Osage County, Missouri.
- $5 millionSettlementPremises Liability
$5 Million Settlement for a Drywall Installer Paralyzed in a Fall Through a Subfloor
A drywall installer who fell through a hole cut in a home's subfloor, suffering a thoracic burst fracture and incomplete paraplegia, settled with the project developer and a drywall delivery company for $5 million.
Edelman & Thompson Law Firm2023 · Jackson County Circuit Court (Independence, MO)Read the full story → - $3.1 millionSettlementSexual Abuse
Missouri School District Settles for $3.1 Million After Hiring a Convicted Sex Offender as Bus Driver
On April 27 and 28, 2023, a bus driver for the Crawford County R-1 School District in rural Missouri molested a female student under the age of 12 on his route, and the bus's surveillance cameras recorded it. The driver, James H. Philpot, had a California record going back more than fifty years, including a 1968 indecent exposure charge and a charge of assault with intent to rape, yet the district hired him in 2021. Philpot pleaded guilty on February 5, 2024, to one count of molesting a child under 12 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Rather than sue, the family filed a charge with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, and the district agreed in April 2024 to pay $3.1 million, settling before the commission issued a right-to-sue letter and before any lawsuit was filed. The girl's attorney, Grant Boyd, said the evidence he reviewed showed the district knew of Philpot's prior sex offense convictions, and that the family had been told the district's screening looked back only 20 to 25 years.
- $2.5 millionSettlementCar Accidents
Rear-End Crash Leads to Cervical Disc Replacement and Hip Surgery, $2.5 Million Settlement
After a rear-end collision in stop-and-go traffic left James Geringer needing cervical disc replacement and hip surgery, The Bruning Law Firm secured a $2.5 million settlement against Nationwide Insurance.
The Bruning Law Firm2024 · St. Louis County Circuit Court, Case No. 22SL-CC04918Read the full story → - $2 millionSettlement
A $2 Million Jail-Custody Settlement, and the Fraud Fight That Followed
Edelman & Thompson secured a $2 million federal settlement for Derrick Houston, a Boone County jail inmate left paralyzed in custody, then was cleared of any role in the client's later fraud and repaid the insurer $100,000.
Edelman & Thompson Law Firm2017 · U.S. District Court, Western District of MissouriRead the full story → - $1 millionSettlementCar Accidents
$1 Million Settlement for Missouri Driver Who Developed Atrial Fibrillation and Needed a Pacemaker After a Hit-and-Run Crash
Justin Meier sustained cardiac and neurological injuries including atrial fibrillation requiring pacemaker implantation after an unknown driver caused a multi-vehicle collision in December 2023; his employer's uninsured motorist policy settled for $1 million in July 2025.
- $1 millionSettlementWrongful Death
Brown & Crouppen Secures $1 Million Settlement in Nursing Home Choking Death
Brown & Crouppen attorney Brett Williams resolved a wrongful death claim for $1 million after a Kansas City nursing home resident on a doctor-ordered soft diet choked on a piece of fruit and died.
- $404,642SettlementCar Accidents
Bilateral Rotator Cuff Tears After Right-of-Way Crash Settle for $404,642 in Jackson County
A confidential plaintiff who suffered bilateral rotator cuff tears and surgical repair after a 2023 Jackson County collision recovered $404,642 with Horn Law Firm attorney Laurie Del Percio.
- $303,000SettlementCar Accidents
Family of Three Settles for $303,000 After Right-of-Way Crash Left Mother Facing Radius Surgery
A mother, father, and infant recovered $303,000 after a 2023 right-of-way collision fractured the mother's radius and ended her ability to work as a nurse during her recovery.
- $300,000SettlementCar Accidents
Clay County Sideswipe Crash Yields $300,000 Settlement for Injured Driver
A confidential plaintiff who sustained head, brain, neck, and spinal injuries when a driver made an improper lane change and sideswiped his vehicle recovered $300,000 through Horn Law Firm attorney Laurie Del Percio.
- $266,000SettlementCar Accidents
Restaurant manager rear-ended on I-470, propelled into median, recovers $266,000
A confidential plaintiff stopped in westbound I-470 traffic was rear-ended with enough force to push his car into the concrete median, sustaining neck, chest, rib, and leg injuries; Laurie Del Percio of Horn Law Firm secured a $266,000 settlement in July 2025.
- $250,000SettlementCar Accidents
$250,000 for a Passenger Who Fractured Her Hip in a Left-Turn Crash
An 82-year-old passenger fractured her right hip when the car she was riding in turned left into the path of an oncoming SUV near a St. Charles County mall, and Richard Zalasky of Brown & Crouppen settled her claim for the driver's full $250,000 policy limit.
- $245,000SettlementTruck Accidents
Brown & Crouppen Settles for $245,000 After Loaded Dump Truck Tips Over In Front of Stopped Driver in Jefferson County
After a speeding dump truck swerved, struck her stopped car and tipped over in front of her, Brown & Crouppen settled Mary Bourne's spinal injury claim for $245,000.
- $211,592SettlementCar Accidents
$211,592 Settlement After Crash Left Missouri Woman Needing Knee Replacement
Pamela Duggan sustained serious neck and knee injuries in a December 2022 collision and eventually required knee replacement surgery before Horn Law Firm attorney Laurie Del Percio secured a $211,592 settlement in January 2026.
- $200,000SettlementPremises Liability
Brown & Crouppen Recovers $200,000 for a Cyclist Hurt at a St. Louis Plumbing Work Site
Brown & Crouppen recovered $200,000 for Joshua Klenke, a cyclist who fractured his collarbone after hitting a road depression left by underground plumbing work, with the payment coming from the plumbing contractor's insurer rather than the city.
All Missouri verdicts and settlements
88 results, largest first
A St. Louis jury returned a $4.69 billion verdict against Johnson and Johnson on behalf of 22 women who developed ovarian cancer after years of using the company's talcum powder products, with Thomas K. Neill of Gray, Ritter and Graham, P.C. serving on the plaintiff trial team.
A St. Louis jury in July 2018 awarded 22 women and their families $4.69 billion, the largest U.S. verdict of that year, finding that asbestos in Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder products caused ovarian cancer; a Missouri appellate court upheld $2.11 billion in 2020.
A Cole County jury returned $1.56 billion in November 2023 across four plaintiffs whose claims were consolidated for one trial: three Roundup users who developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma and the wife of one of them on a loss of consortium claim. The trial court later cut the punitive awards to roughly nine times each plaintiff's compensatory damages, bringing the judgment down to about $611 million, and the Missouri appellate courts left that judgment standing.
Gray Ritter Graham's Don Downing served as court-appointed co-lead counsel in a massive multidistrict lawsuit against Bayer CropScience over the 2006 contamination of the U.S. long-grain rice supply by an unapproved genetically modified strain, producing a $750 million settlement for more than 11,000 rice farmers across five Southern states.
A St. Louis County jury returned a $745 million verdict against nitrous oxide distributor United Brands and local head shop Coughing Cardinal after finding the companies conspired to sell Whip-It! canisters as an inhalant to a driver who passed out behind the wheel and fatally struck 25-year-old Marissa Politte outside her workplace.
A St. Louis jury awarded $495 million against Abbott Laboratories after finding the company failed to warn that its Similac cow's milk formula could cause necrotizing enterocolitis in premature infants.
Don Downing chaired the court-appointed Plaintiffs' Executive Committee in the federal dicamba MDL and negotiated a $400 million settlement with Monsanto/Bayer covering yield losses suffered by soybean farmers across the country from 2015 through 2020.
Georgia Hayes, a Kansas City area ovarian cancer patient, sued pharmacist Robert Courtney after learning he had diluted the chemotherapy drugs used in her treatment. A Jackson County jury found Courtney liable and awarded Hayes $225,571,439 in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages, the first of hundreds of similar suits against Courtney to reach trial. The trial judge later found the award excessive and cut it by remittitur to $330,071,439, and that reduced judgment stood. Hayes herself and the case reporter covering the verdict both said she was unlikely to ever collect a significant portion of it.
A Kansas City jury awarded ovarian cancer patient Georgia Hayes $225 million in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages against pharmacist Robert Courtney, who had diluted chemotherapy drugs for profit. The trial judge later reduced the award to roughly $330 million, and Hayes collected almost nothing from Courtney himself, whose assets had been seized by the federal government. Courtney was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison, and drug makers Eli Lilly and Bristol-Myers Squibb later paid $71 million to settle victims' claims.
A St. Charles County judge entered a $300 million bench-trial judgment for a child, identified only as G.T., who was physically and sexually abused between the ages of three and five while in the care of Susan and James McLaurie, though one defendant died before the suit was filed and the only known insurance was a $303,000 policy.
A St. Charles County jury awarded $247.3 million to six women sexually assaulted by an unlicensed massage therapist at Oasis Foot Spa & Massage in St. Peters, finding the spa and its owner liable for hiring him without any background check and ignoring an early complaint. The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment in full in 2024.
A St. Louis jury awarded $28 million in compensatory damages and $149 million in punitive damages to Shannon Dugan, a New Jersey sheriff's deputy who was sexually assaulted by a Hyatt security guard who used his master key to enter her hotel room while she slept. The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the full award in December 2024.
A St. Louis jury found trailer manufacturer Wabash National 65 percent at fault and awarded $462 million, most of it punitive, after a defective rear underride guard let a car slide beneath a trailer and kill two young fathers; a judge later cut the total to about $119.5 million.
A St. Louis jury awarded $462 million against trailer maker Wabash National after its defective rear-impact guard failed and allowed a car to slide beneath a trailer on I-55, killing Taron Tailor, 30, and Nicholas Perkins, 23, in 2019.
A four-day trial ended with a $109.2 million verdict against LaFarge North America after Simon Law proved the supplier knowingly sold Gleeson Asphalt base rock that did not meet the grade it was labeled and paid for.
A Jackson County jury returned a $108.6 million verdict for the parents of a woman who died from sepsis after her husband's religious group prevented her from receiving medical care during a botched home birth.
A St. Louis jury awarded $105 million to tire technician Randy Dorman after a Bridgestone/Firestone RH5 multi-piece truck wheel explosively separated during inflation, fracturing his face, both arms, and wrist, while internal company documents showed Firestone engineers had tracked nearly 100 similar incidents for decades.
A Callaway County jury awarded Beth Mayhew and her husband $82.3 million after a truck driver hit their vehicle on I-70 while driving with both feet on the dashboard and holding an iPad to watch videos.
Two former Jackson County Courthouse employees sued U.S. Engineering Co. and Jackson County over asbestos dust that spread through the courthouse during a mid-1980s renovation, after a co-worker died of mesothelioma. A trial judge refused to certify a class, and in March 2015 the Missouri Court of Appeals reversed that ruling and reinstated the case. A jury had been selected for an October 2016 trial in Jackson County Circuit Court when the parties settled for $80 million, funded by U.S. Engineering's insurers rather than county tax dollars. The settlement set aside $25 million for attorneys' fees and litigation costs and put the remainder into a medical monitoring fund covering diagnostic testing for up to 7,500 people who worked in or spent significant time in the courthouse. Louis C. Accurso represented the plaintiffs.
A Clay County, Missouri jury awarded $76 million to the family of David Ford, a 48-year-old delivery driver crushed by moving machinery while dropping off vehicle seats at Ford Motor Company's Kansas City Assembly Plant. The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the verdict in full in 2019.
A St. Charles County jury awarded $75 million, including $25 million in punitive damages, to the parents of Krystofer Batsell, a 21-year-old killed when a driver fleeing police at more than 100 mph crashed into his car. The defendant is serving a 15-year prison sentence for second-degree murder, and the judgment is effectively uncollectable.
A Platte County jury returned a record $70 million verdict after an eight-year-old boy died and his six-year-old sister was seriously injured when a distracted driver rear-ended their grandparents' car in a highway construction zone.
A Clay County, Missouri jury awarded $65 million to a child who suffered a permanent brain injury before birth when a UPS delivery truck struck his mother's car while she was 13 weeks pregnant. With prejudgment interest, the judgment came to roughly $75.3 million, and the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed it in May 2025.
A Monroe County jury awarded $58.6 million, including $56.6 million in punitive damages, to James Graham, a Hannibal food plant worker who developed the irreversible lung disease bronchiolitis obliterans after years of exposure to Givaudan butter flavoring chemicals. The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment in full in April 2026.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.